Trial Monitoring

Interview with lawyer Holger Rothbauer
on the trials against Heckler & Koch

Serious allegations for the momentous continuation of the pawn sacrifice
strategyby Heckler & Koch and the Federal Governmentby the public prosecutor Stuttgart

Interview

In 2010 the peace activist and author Jürgen Grässlin filed a complaint against former employees of Heckler & Koch (H&K). In 2012 his complaint was extended to include responsible officials at the Federal Agency for Export Control (BAFA) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWi) by his attorney Holger Rothbauer.
The DA’s office, however, shelved the investigations despite the close connections of the BAFA and BMWi officials to the case of the G36-Rifles in Mexico. These and other dubious cases of mismanagement – for which the Stuttgart DA Peter Vobiller bears much responsibility – are the motivation for this interview. It was conducted by the GLOBAL NET – STOP THE ARMS TRADE (GN-STAT) with the Attorney Holger Rothbauer just before the opening of the trial against Heckler & Koch.

1) who from May to October 2018 wish to follow our
minutes and reports on the 25 trial days in English, Spanish, German (and potentially other languages) - no matter where they may be in the world! You
will find the minutes of the 25 days of court sessions of the main hearing from May 15th to October 25th on this page.

2) who would be willing and able to attend one or more
days of trial and wish to actively support our trial monitoring for the GLOBAL NET – STOP THE ARMS TRADE or would translate the trial minutes into
other languages.

Please follow this practical advice to attend the trial:

·You must bring your ID or passport!

·During the trial at least two (or more) people should be in the
court room to take minutes at all times!

·Bring a writing pad and a sufficient supply of pens and
paper.

·It is advisable to come early so you can seat yourself in one of
the front rows. This is preferable due to the better acoustics in those spots.

·In the courtroom no visual or audio material may be recorded
during the proceedings or when the judges are present. Photographs may only be taken before or after the beginning of deliberations.

·An information sheet with room numbers, names of the defendants,
witnesses, etc. will be available in front of the court on each hearing day. It is advisable to take a picture of this document to improve orientation.

·Dates and times of the trial can also be found on the website of
the Stuttgart State Court.

Feedback:HEADS UP - the minutes
and notes should be discussed, and quotations clarified among participants that same evening. The documents must then be digitized and sent via email to Tanja Meinhardtmeinhardt-tanja@web.deand Jürgen
Grässlinjg@rib-ev.de(preferably in a
.doc file format). Quick submission is crucial to allow translators the earliest possible access in order to speed up translations. Additionally, the transcripts will be uploaded to the GLOBAL
NET – STOP THE ARMS TRADE website,www.gn-stat.org.

Establishment
of the Days of Trial by the Stuttgart District Court

The
beginning of the main hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15th, 2018, 9:30am. The room has not been determined yet. In order to find a
good seat, trial observers are advised to enter the court room no later than 9:00am. Those participating in the demonstration in front of the court should enter the court room immediately
afterwards - a lot of public interest is to be expected at least on the first trial day.

In all likelihood the Presiding Judge Maurer will
issue a ban on laptops, smartphones, etc. for the public in the courtroom. Body searches outside the courtroom are to be expected. Therefore minute takers will need to be prepared to take written
notes of especially important quotes by hand.

Each day the minutes of the hearing will be taken and
edited by trial observers and subsequently translated into multiple languages by GLOBAL NET – STOP THE ARMS TRADE. In this way we intend to ensure access for an international audience.
Independently the trial will also be monitored by the journalist Jan van Aken, who will publish his transcripts on the website of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

Today was all about money. Were there official violations against the German Foreign Trade & Payments Act? Did any of the accused individuals personally profit
from the alleged violations? And how would appropriate fines against Heckler& Koch be calculated in the event of a guilty verdict?

The present legal stance of the Court could be a turning point in this trial. At least two of the accused could be convicted on fraud charges for falsifying an
export permit. The Court’s position could be a turning point in this trial because the presiding judge reiterated that the export permit, from a legal perspective, was actually not limited to
particular states in Mexico and therefore, Heckler& Koch did not breach the license.

BAFA employees explain the «license/permit approval process» and the «supplementary license/permit approval process» and relate it to the alleged «fraudulent
licenses». Little was learned today but the next court date should be interesting. The ruling judge disclosed specific details concerning the accused individuals. Until now, it was only
specualtion.

Suspicions are confirmed, but how does the US export ban on Colt assault weapons to Mexico affect this situation? The court finds possible indication, that Heckler
& Koch withheld important information from the authorities to expedite the approval of a fraudulent license. Interestingly, in 2005 the US Export Regulation Authorities denied the arms
manufacturer Colt export permits to Mexico. Unethical that the German authorities allowed permits.

Eight years ago, Robert H. started this court case with his testimony. He does not wish to be a whistleblower. He worked for Heckler & Koch in training Mexican
police forces with the G36 weapon. Certain Mexican states were not approved to receive the G36 but police forces, from these “unapproved” states, were trained. Robert H. told the judge that he is
not against weapons but after he learned about what happened with the weapons in Mexico, the Massacre of the Students in Guerrero – he could not support or justify his actions.

An e-mail from 2006 proves that 420 G36-assault weapons were delivered to Chilpancingo/Guerrero. Obviously, in July 2006 Heckler & Koch already delivered
weapons to Guerrero in Mexico. Alleged poor geographical knowledge (the inability to read a map) was the witness’s explanation for the mistake.

Witness: Weapons are only allowed to be exported into specific Mexican states. The Foreign Export Control Office (BAFA) worked thoroughly with the Ministry of
Economic Affairs and in their own licensing process (which differ to those of the Ministry of Economic Affairs) to clearly define that weapons were only allowed for shipment to specific Mexican
states.

Breach of the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act and the deliberate export to other Mexican states is punishable. The first prosecutor brought detailed
information into the legal realm and confronted the judge. He outlined the minimum charges applicable for commercial and organized crime against the German Foreign Trade & Payments Act. He
then extensively explained how Heckler & Koch used an end-user certificate, which is a mandatory part of the export permit, but then still allowed the weapons to be shipped to a different
state (not as stated in the end-user certificate). This action is punishable.

«Gone is gone» is the slogan at the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA). / The person in charge at the MoEA started with his clarification of his role at the MoEA.
His Ministry is FOR economic growth and therefore «They have a vested interest in seeing manufacturers succeed […] and to continue to economically survive/thrive. » He also reiterated the point
that we have been stressing: Once weapons are exported, there are no further checks or controls (with respect to actual end-user usage). «Gone is gone. »

The Federal Foreign Office (FFO): There are also approvable/licensable receivers in other countries. The witness from the Foreign Affairs Department explained the
protocol, that was then in place, has been updated to better enforce proper end-user usage. The new measures were meant to ensure that the purchasing group was in fact qualified to receive the
weapons. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Heckler & Koch were regularly updated about these new regulations.

In the official documents given to the authorities, it appears certain pages are missing which led to the questioning of the former HK sales representative. The
judge is questioning, why the official licensing documents show no evidence of conversations between the former HK sales rep and the buyer. In the Ministry of Economic Affairs, it was noted that
there was often confusion/ambiguity about the specifics of the license (ex. What was approvable and what was not.).

Heckler & Koch state that specific paperwork must be completed to secure a weapons permit. Steffen E. from the German Customs Investigation Bureau in Cologne
(ZKA) presented his first witness. He was involved with the initial investigation against HK. His supervisor and lead investigator at the ZKA is scheduled to testify at the next court date on
June 12th. Steffen E. put a lot of pressure on the HK employees and accused them not only of delivering weapons to non-approved states but also that they actively promoted such sales.

The judge questioned the former HK-Executive Director Joachim M. and his former sales manager Wolfram M. The quote of the day came from the accused Joachim M.: «The
German Foreign Office always had a list of unstable (risky) countries. Concerns about specific countries were brought forward and as a result, there would be a freeze on all export permits to
those countries. Jordan was one of these countries. I can list many countries which the German Foreign Office put on their “Unstable” list and then 2 years later, under a different President or
political constellation, this country would be removed from the list. »

End-user certificates are a useless measure in the export control. In the fear of the noose tightening around their own necks, the accused blame the approval
authorities. It is again stated, what we have always known: the end-user certificates are never checked and the entire process is a useless exercise in export control.

Today’s highlights include: a picket, excessive media presence, and the reading out of the charges. Six former Heckler und Koch employees are accused of committing
commercial and organized crimes for violating the «German Foreign Trade & Payments Act». The strategy of the defence: Either the relevant authorities, the Mexicans or a deceased person is at
fault.

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